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D44 front; long thread

X

xjrugger

NAXJA Forum User
Location
long island, new york
Okay, I have a D44 rear 4.88's Detroit & Discs in the xj, and in the shed have a D44 regular pinion front out of an early bronco that was in a friends broncoII. I have a D30 front in the jeep with the axleshaft and 297x u joint upgrade. I am on 35's and plan on 37's. I am wary of that d30 with the 37's. Should i build the d44 with 4.88s and ARB and if I do can i customize the control arm mounts to raise the arms to a higher point on the axle so they are more level. I have 10 inches of lift mutted with skyjacker 8in coils and 2 inch spacers w/ RE fixed contorl arms and drop brackets and over the knuckle end to end tie rod steering with skyjacker discos. I know I could probably raise the upper arms with a one piece cross mount that would make them sit almost level, but what about the lowers? Can I raise those mounts and not bow the springs. How will this affect uptravel versus down travel? And I might put in the adjustable spring spacers to adjust a little higher if i want. And for the coil mounts on the axle, do the bronco's match up or will i have to cut and reposition them? Should i waste my money and time since this is not a high pinion? Otherwise should I have a dana 60 hp built and boxed but with my d44 rear, it just doesn't sound right. Will the rear be strong enough? and if i do the D60, is there a d60 tera front that can be had? Also, are chromoly axleshafts lighter? If so, should i do these shafts to lighten it up a little so the front end does not overpower the rear? Also, is there a d60 hp front out there that has the same bolt pattern. About how much money would i save in doing it that way if i could find one? And thanks to anyone who actually dealt with this f'n story. i need opinions so i could know what direction to go.
 
You might wanna try searching... all this has been discussed either here at NAXJA or over at Pirate. FarmerMatt's article about swapping in a EB D44 is very good and will answer quite a few of your questions.
 
I think you would be better off withthe D30 than the EB D44. The EB units only have 260x joints.
 
xjrugger said:
Okay, I have a D44 rear 4.88's Detroit & Discs in the xj, and in the shed have a D44 regular pinion front out of an early bronco that was in a friends broncoII. I have a D30 front in the jeep with the axleshaft and 297x u joint upgrade. I am on 35's and plan on 37's. I am wary of that d30 with the 37's. Should i build the d44 with 4.88s and ARB and if I do can i customize the control arm mounts to raise the arms to a higher point on the axle so they are more level. I have 10 inches of lift mutted with skyjacker 8in coils and 2 inch spacers w/ RE fixed contorl arms and drop brackets and over the knuckle end to end tie rod steering with skyjacker discos. I know I could probably raise the upper arms with a one piece cross mount that would make them sit almost level, but what about the lowers? Can I raise those mounts and not bow the springs. How will this affect uptravel versus down travel? And I might put in the adjustable spring spacers to adjust a little higher if i want. And for the coil mounts on the axle, do the bronco's match up or will i have to cut and reposition them? Should i waste my money and time since this is not a high pinion? Otherwise should I have a dana 60 hp built and boxed but with my d44 rear, it just doesn't sound right. Will the rear be strong enough? and if i do the D60, is there a d60 tera front that can be had? Also, are chromoly axleshafts lighter? If so, should i do these shafts to lighten it up a little so the front end does not overpower the rear? Also, is there a d60 hp front out there that has the same bolt pattern. About how much money would i save in doing it that way if i could find one? And thanks to anyone who actually dealt with this f'n story. i need opinions so i could know what direction to go.
Click to expand...

The eb dana 44 front does line up good with the width, coil buckets, etc., but the 66-75' have drum brakes and 260 u-joints. I had a 75' eb dana 44 front and ford 9" rear, but sold them. The 77', last year of the eb, had front disc and is very desirable, but also very hard to find and expensive. There is a mod to swap to discs using chevy stuff. The rear eb ford 9" has 28 spline axles and has the weakest ford 9" housing ever. The dana 44 front eb is not bad, but figure on swapping in some aftermarket axle shafts, like alloy or cromo with 297 or 760 u-joints & swapping in some big chevy rotors. If you did go with axle, would you/could you swap your rear dana 44 over to a 5 on 5-1/2 bolt pattern?
Troy
 
xjrugger said:
Okay, I have a D44 rear 4.88's Detroit & Discs in the xj, and in the shed have a D44 regular pinion front out of an early bronco that was in a friends broncoII. I have a D30 front in the jeep with the axleshaft and 297x u joint upgrade. I am on 35's and plan on 37's. I am wary of that d30 with the 37's. Should i build the d44 with 4.88s and ARB and if I do can i customize the control arm mounts to raise the arms to a higher point on the axle so they are more level. I have 10 inches of lift mutted with skyjacker 8in coils and 2 inch spacers w/ RE fixed contorl arms and drop brackets and over the knuckle end to end tie rod steering with skyjacker discos. I know I could probably raise the upper arms with a one piece cross mount that would make them sit almost level, but what about the lowers? Can I raise those mounts and not bow the springs. How will this affect uptravel versus down travel? And I might put in the adjustable spring spacers to adjust a little higher if i want. And for the coil mounts on the axle, do the bronco's match up or will i have to cut and reposition them? Should i waste my money and time since this is not a high pinion? Otherwise should I have a dana 60 hp built and boxed but with my d44 rear, it just doesn't sound right. Will the rear be strong enough? and if i do the D60, is there a d60 tera front that can be had? Also, are chromoly axleshafts lighter? If so, should i do these shafts to lighten it up a little so the front end does not overpower the rear? Also, is there a d60 hp front out there that has the same bolt pattern. About how much money would i save in doing it that way if i could find one? And thanks to anyone who actually dealt with this f'n story. i need opinions so i could know what direction to go.
Click to expand...

Sorry, too long a post with too many questions........I can't focus that well anymore. :)

Like the others said, there is a ton of info out there, and it looks like you need a lot of basic info and a variety of opinions to help you get up to speed and narrow down your options.........searching will help you along, then ask a few more pointed questions.
 
I would like to avoid spending money on new rims even though they are the inexpensive AR767. I would like to keep with the D44 rear bolt pattern which is i think 5 on 4.5. Are the alloy or chromo shafts lighter b/c if so i would do a D60 with lighter shafts to compensate for the 60's weight. If the 77 EB 44 is expensive, then i would just do a D60. Although contradictory, i would pay for a custom D60 housing with some strong but lighter weight shafts. Troy is that 77 EB 44 HP?
 
xjrugger said:
I would like to avoid spending money on new rims even though they are the inexpensive AR767. I would like to keep with the D44 rear bolt pattern which is i think 5 on 4.5. Are the alloy or chromo shafts lighter b/c if so i would do a D60 with lighter shafts to compensate for the 60's weight. If the 77 EB 44 is expensive, then i would just do a D60. Although contradictory, i would pay for a custom D60 housing with some strong but lighter weight shafts. Troy is that 77 EB 44 HP?
Click to expand...

No, the 77 is the last year of the 1st gen bronco, the 2nd gen bronco starting in 78' was hi pinion I believe. I know the f-150 should be hi-pinion, at least from 78'+. Just see where output comes out of the housing, above or below the axle tube center.
Troy
 
how do u think a D44 rear will be with the D60 front, b/c if it involves a drawn out conversion which i do not have the time for than i would buy a custom 60 housing. I think it was the tera 60 with more ground clearance then the average 60. Correct me if im wrong. Is there any shafts out there that are just as durable and will be lighter weight?
Mike
 
Wait, you want to buy a D-60 front or a Tera 60 rear and you don't want to buy $39 rims?

This is a joke, right?

CRASH
 
allright its not hard to twist my arm but im just looking to get a stronger front axle w/o breaking the bank but for me time is money in my profession so i cant become a slave to this vehicle as i have in the past. I would like to do a 60 front if the 44 rear is strong enough otherwise a 44 up front seems good enough as long as i can find something to convert in thats hp.
 
What you have to understand about swapping axles around is that very little is plug and play. The closest 44 to being a bolt on is a TJ 44, and it's not very desirable.

My buddy is 6 weekends into a early bronco 44 swap and he's just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A 60 complicates things MUCH more because of the size of the center section causing issues with exhaust/trackbar/trackbar bracket/coil spring clearances.

What are you using this Jeep for? Deep rocks? If its a street rig, just keep the 30......'cause it sounds like you are time constrained AND cash constrained, and that's not a good combination when discussing driveline swaps.

CRASH
 
Deep rocks and still my DD. I want to avoid opening a can of snakes with a d60, but i desire 37's for another inch of ground clearance. I have 297's in the 30 with 4.88's and larger shafts, is this enough for 37's? I wheel hard but not as hard as a competition rig but i also wanted to do a front ARB, which makes me not sure about the d30's strength. And even if i do the 37's and ARB in the 30, are the tubes strong enough?
 
How can you have "larger shafts" in a D-30 without the use of a 30 spline ARB? That's really the only way to accomplish "larger shafts".

Our little group (especially Jes ;) )consistantly blows up welded and C-clipped 760 joints in his D-30 with 33" tires, so there is NO WAY standard joints are going to live in a locked up, 37" tire rig.

Tell the truth, though, a 44 is at it's limit with 37's, even with 4130 shafts and CTMs.

Don't fool yourself though, a 60 is a HUGE can of worms.

CRASH
 
xjrugger said:
What about a Rubicon 44 front? Is it desirable?
Click to expand...

What you have to understand about swapping axles around is that very little is plug and play. The closest 44 to being a bolt on is a TJ 44, and it's not very desirable.
Click to expand...

:huh:

CRASH
 
it was about 2 and a half yrs ago i got the joints with new shafts, my buddy installed them while i was away, he told me that it wont make much of a difference in strength which was fine when i has 33's. So i dont have measurements on the new shafts compared with the old. I have a spare 30 front but i feel if i break a 30 that i should just upgrade. I usually prefer to have a reliable rig and therefore i have always upgraded equipment before breaking rather than break and fix later. I dont want to break a 30 and put another in place of it. I would like to do a 60 but time is too much of a concern and i can not be off the road longer than a week which we know will be the end result
 
You could always just order a 60 fully assembled with OEM bracketry and slide it in......

A Dynatrac 60 with locker, gears, brakes, shafts, hubs and brackets will set you back about $6,000. A bit more if you go with their rock crawler housing.

CRASH
 
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